State agencies' take-home cars often a free ride

Sunday

State employees are supposed to get take-home cars only when their job requires them to hit the road regularly, but for many, the perk amounts to little more than a free ride between home and work.

State employees are supposed to get take-home cars only when their job requires them to hit the road regularly, but for many, the perk amounts to little more than a free ride between home and work.

Ohio taxpayers pay for these commutes, including some for workers who rack up more mileage and money on personal commuting than they do on travel for their jobs.

A Dispatch review of thousands of pages of mileage and travel forms shows one state agency in particular assigns take-home cars to some employees who commute long distances but don’t generally leave the office.

Assigning cars to workers is not a cheap proposition for the state or its taxpayers. Gasoline and maintenance costs alone on the nearly 1,200 non-law enforcement, take-home vehicles totaled nearly $2.2 million last year.

Most state employees with take-home cars appear to use them reliably in the course of their work, departing from home directly to various job assignments, records show.

But the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which places no limits on the distance employees can drive between home and their regular workplace, subsidizes the commuting for dozens of employees.

State regulations require that workers with “frequent business travel” receive a take-home car and generally forbid assigning take-home vehicles “for long-term regular commuting.” The vehicles cannot be used for personal travel.

One Job and Family Services information-technology worker routinely drives a state van between his home in Ashland and an office near Port Columbus — a 165-mile round trip — on the taxpayer’s tab at a cost of more than $300 a month for gasoline alone.

Another IT employee regularly drives another van from LaRue in Marion County to the same office, a daily round trip of 135 miles.

Together, in September and October alone, the two workers racked up 8,737 miles on their state vehicles commuting between home and office while driving a combined 688 miles on state business.

Department spokesman Ben Johnson said both are now assigned to the Columbus office for software deployments and are on call for IT emergencies around the state 24 hours a day, which requires them to have take-home vehicles.

After they are done in Columbus, they will report more regularly to their assigned offices in Akron and Lima, he said. Their round-trip commutes still will amount to 100 miles for the Ashland resident and 90 miles for the worker in LaRue.

More commuters

The Department of Health also has employees whose regular travel largely consists of driving between their homes and agency offices.

A supervisor who lives in Perry, in Lake County, regularly drives a 122-mile round trip to an office in Akron, where he is required to supervise his team’s reports, a spokesman said. And a radiation-technology inspector routinely commutes 30 miles between his Strongsville home and an office in Akron, which he seldom leaves.

Records show other examples of Job and Family Services employees commuting between home and office courtesy of the taxpayers and not regularly driving on state business — some for weeks at a time.

An auditor who lives in Findlay, and had his state car taken from him last year, drove 50 miles daily between home and office. He never left the office during four months last year and, during another four months, left the office only once a month.

Another employee, also with a 50-mile round-trip commute, seldom left his office more than one day a week. His car has been returned to the pool fleet, officials said. Another worker had only a 6-mile round trip to the office, but in a nine-month period hit the road only 28 days. His car also was removed amid a new job assignment.

A fiscal-support analyst regularly commutes nearly 70 miles each way from his home near Minford in Scioto County to a state Job and Family Services office in Chillicothe, but spends a lot of time driving elsewhere around southeastern Ohio.

Mileage and expense reports from all state agencies show a $30 car wash, an $89 car-detailing charge and trips home for lunch and to retrieve forgotten items with state vehicles.

In exchange for being allowed to commute in state vehicles, state workers are assessed a taxable benefit of $3 a day — less than the cost of one gallon of gas — that must be reported as income to the IRS.

Personal perks

The take-home cars are a personal financial perk for those who commute and don’t face fuel, insurance and maintenance costs. The AAA reports that it costs an average of 60.8 cents per mile to own and operate an average-size sedan.

(The overall state passenger-vehicle fleet totals 7,627 vehicles. The state spent $20.8 million on vehicle purchases last year, $17.3 million on fuel and $4.9 million on maintenance, according to the Department of Administrative Services.)

Catherine Turcer of Common Cause Ohio, a government-watchdog group, said the state should tighten its rules for commuting in take-home cars.

“They are paid for with taxpayer dollars and intended to be used for government business. They should not be a perk of the job. Driving a car that isn’t yours so you don’t have to pay for anything from parking to gasoline, it adds up for taxpayers,” she said.

Job and Family Services spokesman Johnson said the agency reviews mileage reports quarterly to make adjustments if necessary, with employees who regularly receive reimbursement for use of their personal cars instructed to use pool cars.

The department closed 13 regional offices late last year, increasing commuting distances and mileage for some field work. It is likely that vehicles will be reassigned as an assessment continues, he said.

Other state agencies limit the distances that employees with take-home cars can commute and do not assign them to workers who regularly commute to an office before they begin travel on work assignments.

Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation policy restricts commuting in take-home vehicles to 30 miles or less. Employees who live beyond 30 miles from their office may be required to park the car at a state facility and then drive the remaining distance home in their personal vehicles.

“The purpose is to cut down on the amount of commute time (on the vehicle) that BWC pays, saving expenses on the state vehicle,” said bureau spokeswoman Melissa Vince.

However, records show that a supervisor who lives in Maumee, in Lucas County, near Toledo, nearly always drove a 304-mile round trip between his home and a bureau office in Pickerington once a week last year at a monthly gasoline cost of $125 to $150.

He was allowed to commute in a state vehicle pending his move to the Columbus area after he took a new position in January 2013, but he never moved and lost his take-home car in December, Vince said. He now commutes in his own vehicle.

No commuting allowed

The Ohio Department of Commerce, which has the largest fleet of take-home vehicles, avoids problems by simply forbidding take-home vehicles to be used for regular commuting to an office, said spokesman Brian Hoyt.

Employees such as fire-safety and elevator inspectors and bank examiners are assigned take-home vehicles, but they largely are required to travel directly from their homes to work assignments, he said.

Those who report to offices and periodically need a vehicle are required to use a pool vehicle. The agency’s approach to take-home cars makes “logistical and economic sense,” Hoyt said.

The Department of Agriculture likewise does not assign cars to employees who regularly report to an office “because our field staff ... do not report into an office, they report directly to wherever they are inspecting that day,” said spokeswoman Erica Hawkins.

Unlike other state agencies, the Department of Natural Resources does not require employees with take-home cars to document their daily mileage and travel on a dedicated form. Mileage and expenses are reported and compiled monthly, said spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle.

The agency is considering requiring employees to document mileage and travel daily, she said. Checks by supervisors help deter abuse, she said.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow

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